David Nabb is a Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Born and raised in Iowa, he holds both a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Multiple Woodwind Performance from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of North Texas.
Since surviving a catastrophic stroke in 2000, Nabb has worked with Jeff Stelling to develop a saxophone that can be played with the right hand only. He has demonstrated his toggle-key saxophone throughout the world and is often asked to speak and write about music for persons with disabilities. In 2013, Nabb and Jeff Stelling received the first-ever OHMI-Ars Electronica Prize for their work on the toggle-key saxophone at Bruckner Hall in Linz, Austria. Previously, they received awards from VSA, NAMM and NAPBIRT at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
Nabb has written articles on music-making for people with disabilities for a number of national publications, including the Music Educators Journal, Flöte Aktuell, The Flutist Quarterly, American Journal of Occupational Therapy and the Journal of Research in Music Education.
Nabb has performed with his toggle-key saxophone at important venues around the world, including the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC; Westminster Palace, London; Abbey Road Studios, London; The National Theatre, Bangkok, Thailand; Bruckner Hall, Linz, Austria; and Colston Hall, Bristol, England.
Nabb's teaching experience includes several years as a public school band director and three years as Director of Instrumental Music at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He has served as Associate Instructor of Saxophone at Indiana University and was selected to be a member of the Teaching Excellence Fellowship Program at the University of North Texas. Many of Nabb's students have gained state, regional and national recognition. In 2004, University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith named him one of the University of Nebraska's "New Pioneers." Nabb is a Yamaha Performing Artist and plays exclusively on Eugene Rousseau Saxophone Mouthpieces.
